Provide a specific example the relationship between processing, structure, and properties of an engineering material. Be specific with your example by including the material type, the processing involved, the structural changes, and specific properties that are being influenced. Be clear in how one thing impacts the other. Feel free to use equations, graphs, or sketches to support your example. One page maximum.

An example of engineering material, are plastics, they are derived from organic, natural materials, such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt and, of course, oil. Oil is a complex mixture of thousands of compounds and must be processed before being used.

Explanation:

Plastic production begins with distillation at a refinery, where crude oil is separated into groups of lighter components, called fractions. Each fraction is a mixture of hydrocarbon chains (chemical compounds formed by carbon and hydrogen) that differ in terms of the size and structure of their molecules. One of those fractions, naphtha, is the essential compound for the production of plastic.

Two main processes are used to make plastic: polymerization and polycondensation, and both require specific catalysts. In a polymerization reactor, monomers like ethylene and propylene join to form long polymer chains. Each polymer has its own properties, structure and dimensions depending on the type of basic monomer that has been used.